Author
Topic: What's Nichirin all about then? (Read 5342 times)

Just my humble sharing from the perspective of the Nichiren Shu Buddhism School

"The Nichiren Shu is a Buddhist Order founded by the religious prophet and reformer, Nichiren Shonin (1222-1282). He espoused the doctrine that the Lotus Sutra represents the embodiment of the genuine teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, the Savior of this world.

Our belief in this doctrine is affirmed by our chanting of the Odaimoku (Sacred Title) : "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo," that is "Adoration to the Scripture of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth."

We believe that Nichiren Shonin was the messenger of the Buddha who has guided us in cultivating our Buddha nature, a quality inherent in all beings, and establishing a way of life consonant with the eternal truths preached by the Buddha.

We vow to the Buddha and Nichiren Shonin that we will strive to engender peace within ourselves and throughout the world by disseminating the teaching expounded in the Lotus Sutra"-Extracted from http://nichiren-shu.org/AboutUs/nichirenShu.html

I am an SGI member, and while my worldview does not perfectly mesh in the organization, I am generally happy about the sense of community and comradeship I feel. This is my Sangha.

Daisaku Ikeda has never claimed to be a being any more enlightened than his disciples. Like many Buddhist schools we feel as if we need the direction of someone who has spent their life immersed in the teachings to guide us, President Ikeda fulfills this function. He is our teacher, our Sensei.

I'm not attempting to be offensive here, but it is very easy for most Western Buddhists to scoff at the idea of praying for worldly benefit. By and large Western Buddhists are white, upper middle class, graduate educated individuals. If this teaching inspires less materially wealthy practitioners to fight their way out of poverty, I don't see anything wrong with that. Finally, whether you focus on gaining things or renouncing them... you remain attached to an idea of what constitutes Awakening.

Logged

"At all times I think to myself:How can I cause living beingsto gain entry into the unsurpassed wayand quickly acquire the body of a Buddha?"

Based on what I've seen over the years, Nichiren-based Buddhism seems to suffer from factionalism more than one tends to see in other Japanese Buddhist sects. SGI and Shoshu in particular seem to be still fighting the same basic battle that started 30 years ago, and still take pot-shots at one another as opportunity arises:

It's hard to be sure who even started it now as the causes and blame are pretty intertwined.

Somehow the more mainstream Nichiren-shu branch has avoided most of this sectarianism, though its presence in the US is mostly limited to Japanese-American communities. Rissho Kosei-kai (yet another offshoot) has limited presence in the West too, but has also avoided the factionalism for the most part.

Still, all this infighting is probably why to this day I still prefer not to step into a Nichiren temple: I don't know what sort of minefield I'd be stepping into.

I am an SGI member, and while my worldview does not perfectly mesh in the organization, I am generally happy about the sense of community and comradeship I feel. This is my Sangha.

Daisaku Ikeda has never claimed to be a being any more enlightened than his disciples. Like many Buddhist schools we feel as if we need the direction of someone who has spent their life immersed in the teachings to guide us, President Ikeda fulfills this function. He is our teacher, our Sensei.

I'm not attempting to be offensive here, but it is very easy for most Western Buddhists to scoff at the idea of praying for worldly benefit. By and large Western Buddhists are white, upper middle class, graduate educated individuals. If this teaching inspires less materially wealthy practitioners to fight their way out of poverty, I don't see anything wrong with that. Finally, whether you focus on gaining things or renouncing them... you remain attached to an idea of what constitutes Awakening.